DC Hellblazer: I'm Constantine

###### C28. I'm Constantine

Morning, the following day.

Back on Earth, the recovery process isn't as fast as in Hell; at least not for the wings. Most of my scars healed overnight, though, and I can't stop wondering if I might actually be immortal. That's not it though. It's not why I survived severely burning.

The wings protected my life force with their magic, right after they tortured and tormented me. Figuring out how I'd configure them to accept me was the hard part. But I happen to be an extremely lucky fella.

Let's just say, I didn't do it alone.

"Woof!" A black dog barks in the house of mystery and comes jumping onto my lap.

"Woof!" it goes again, distracting me from my research.

"Guess even curses like to play catch every now and then," I say, conjuring the ninetieth ball and throwing it across the room. It goes rushing after it, leaving me with momentary peace.

I'm still healing from yesterday's scars from Hell, but instead of just lying on the bed next to the warm body of Ellie - and Black Orchid for some reason - I'm focused, reading through all kinds of mysterious texts regarding the Dawn of Curses. But my board isn't all curses. I'm also looking through anything mystical about the Speed Force. I might have accidentally, seriously, hexed the Flash when I put him down. I didn't mean him any harm, of course.

Now, whenever he wakes up from sedation, the guy just whizzes out with speed, aimlessly wrecking stuff, according to the information Diana sent over.

"Come back to bed already," Ellie comes into the sitting room with a lazy look and a yawn, as if she's been sleeping. "The other girl is no fun."

"Why don't you try teaching her the art of seduction, luv" I reply. "I'm sure she'll appreciate your insights."

"You mean, teach her how to steal you from me?" Ellie throws me a harsh stare. "Not a chance!"

"Ellie," I start with a gentle voice as possible. "You and I both know that whatever we've had between us. It's-"

"I know," she interrupts. "But succubae are perceived only as predatory sexual beings. Nothing more."

She treks slowly towards me and sits beside me in the couch.

She flashes me a smile as she says, "while it's true, let a girl dream, won't you?"

"At least I know my pheromones aren't affecting you." She follows it with a kiss, and I drown into the moment. The pheromones might actually start getting to me.

"Keep them," she demands when I try concealing the wings. Guess it's me on top of her now.

"Woof-woof!"

But the bloody dog just won't let us. It comes back barking, no ball in mouth, since I was only conjuring illusions for it to go after. For a brief moment, I'm tempted to conjure another, send the dog away so that Ellie and I can get to it. But-

"Some other time," I say, shifting and sitting back straight. She nods in understanding and leaves me to it.

I work for a while longer, then leave the House of Mystery for the Hall of Justice to do the actual job. No working from home for an occult detective.

Zee's already in the basement, casting wards, by the time I make it.

"Found a place for your new friend or is she better off warming your bed," she says the second I enter, her hands folded.

"Morning to you too, Zee," I greet, smiling despite her disapproving look.

"You know how it is," I reply, "she's got a home to go back to. Only things are... pretty heated down there at the moment."

"Seriously, John," Zatanna lowers her neck to give me a scold. "What are you thinking messing with her kind. Have you forgotten what happened the last time you got entangled with one?"

"She tried to suck out my life force, and you came to bail me out," I answer. "Nobody can forget that."

"But trust me, Zee," I argue. "This one's different. 666 daughter of Triskele, if you know what that means."

Her expression softens slightly. "It's still no reason to play with fire."

Fwuuush!

We hear an eerie sound, and the lights flicker.

Zooom!

The lights dim and I catch a glimpse of a scarlet streak.

"That's impossible," I hear Zatanna mumble to herself in disbelief as she watches the streaks toppling relics and dangerous stuff over. "I've been here all night casting wards. You shouldn't be able to get inside the basement."

"Zee-" I try to warn her when I note the streak's trajectory heading for her.

"hsalf pirt," she enchants hastily, and the Scarlet Speedster falls flat on the ground as if he's stumbled on something.

We're about to close in on him, when he raises his head and looks at Zatanna with deep black eyes. The horrific kind that can only mean one thing.

"He's been possessed," I say assertively and start chanting an exorcism spell rapidly and wildly, my right palm extended toward him. An eerie strong wind surrounds us as my chanting heightens, while the Flash recoils in fear.

I'm convinced it's time to bind him in a circle, when I spot a glint in his eyes. Suddenly, he rises up, and, faster than any eye can see, he's holding me by my throat, suffocating the words in my mouth.

"B'o'y 'el!" I groan as I realize my mistake. His eyes are not black. They are an evil shade of dark purple, and that means a different kind of possession, requiring a different kind of spell.

Zatanna tries to intervene to save me, but my reaction's faster. My charred wings slice out in time - before he can rip my throat out - and pull me back and into the air. I lung at him to land a punch, but he zips away. That doesn't stop me from throwing hell's blaze at him, following his projection as he skirts around.

"Constantine!" Zatanna yells at me because of the fire, and the spirals in my hands die down as the Hellblazer mark turns off by itself.

"Bollocks!" I curse bitterly. It's still doing that thing again. Seems it doesn't only happen in Hell. And this time, it's causing inconveniences. The Flash, seeing that I'm no longer attacking him with fire, darts between me and Zatanna.

Zatanna tries to hit him with white balls of light and all sorts of backwards binding spells, but the Flash evades them all. Having figured out what's possessing him, I summon the Dawn of Curses. Its the first ever curse in existence, invented by Lucifer himself and happens to be a loyal companion if it likes you.

I don't know where it came from while I was falling. Thought Neron had destroyed it. But it survived, just unbound from me. Still, it chose to come back and help me. One small bite at my life force, and I realized that Neron wasn't kidding about the extent of it's power. It grew to the size of a Hellhound and cursed the wings into obeying me.

But I'm not about to let it nib at my life force again. Not after how I felt afterwards.

The black dog appears, and start barking at the Flash. The speedster stops still, looking at the dog as if wary it could actually catch and bite him.

"Grrhh..." it growls at him, authoritatively, forcing him to take an involuntary step back.

Zatanna blinks in surprise, but I know what this is.

"Fighting fire with fire," I say as I take the moment to enchant a binding circle around the Flash to keep him at bay. He doesn't even bother to try and escape, his dark purple eyes are only glued to the dog, fearfully.

"What?" Zatanna is puzzled, looking back and forth between the dog and the Flash.

"The Flash's possessed," I explain to her. "But not the standard kind of possession. Demons are currently to busy for that. A curse got him."

"My curse, unfortunately," I add, biting my lips in the process.

The lights have stopped flickering and dimming and I can see the brow Zatanna's raised. "What do you mean... your curse?"

"Must've slipped out when I cast a protection spell on the Flash to keep him from getting corrupted by Eclipso's diamond," I continue, almost as if I'm musing to myself.

"Mh?" Zatanna's questions are only piling up.

"It's only natural it would've done that, given the name and nature of the curse. If my research is on point," I continue my musings, ignoring Zatanna's perplexed look.

The dog barks again and the Flash takes another cautious step back, hitting the barrier.

"There there," I pat the dog on it's head. As the first curse, it holds a certain authority over other curses. Especially the primitive ones.

"What's going on, Constantine?" Zatanna demands answers.

"Er.." I don't know how I'd start explaining. I'm only figuring out most of what's happening too.

"Just help me with the exorcism," I tell her, guiding her through the process, until the curse comes out of the Flash and returns to my body, marking itself in a demonic, flash-like symbol, among other curses. I cannot begin describing Zatanna's worried look when she sees this.

"See, we might not talk about it much. About the marks and the younger body..." I explain to her. "But it's not all just for show. It's a responsibility I'm learning to get the hang of."

She nods, not out of clarity, but understanding. Although from the curiosity in her eyes, I can tell that she will be digging deeper, if she hasn't already been.

"What..mhrr.. happened?" the Flash groans as his senses come back to him.

"You had a Speed Hex inside you champ," I explain, lightly. "A curse that specifically targets the Speed Force."

"But now it's old news, and I'm a step closer to solving a larger puzzle," I add.

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